Three years later, in autumn.

The golden rays of the setting sun shone on the brand-new factory gate of Hongxing Machinery Factory, making the gilded characters "Hongxing Machinery Group" shine brightly. Inside the factory area, the former low-rise factory buildings have been replaced by neat and bright steel-structured workshops, surrounded by green belts and wide roads. If it weren't for the faint roar of machines, one would almost mistake it for a modern science and technology park.

Liu Li stood by the window of the top-floor conference room in the group's headquarters office building, overlooking the land she had poured her heart and soul into. She had just seen off a group of businessmen from Southeast Asia who had shown great interest in the Red Star brand small diesel engines and new food processing machinery, and had signed a considerable export order.

Behind him, the financial statements for this year were spread out on the large conference table. The figures on them were vastly different from those three years ago. Not only had they completely shaken off the losses, but profits had also doubled year after year. The "Red Star" brand had not only established a firm foothold in the domestic market, but had also begun to go global.

The door was gently pushed open, and Fu Jingchen walked in. Now the group's chief engineer, he exuded an increasingly composed demeanor. He placed a newly received fax on the table: "A notification just arrived from the ministry: our 'Small Energy-Saving Multi-Fuel Diesel Engine' project has been included in the National 'Spark Program' as a key promotion project."

Liu Li took the fax, and looking at the bright red seal on it, a slight smile appeared on her lips, her eyes reflecting the calm and satisfaction that came after weathering the storm. Every step of these past three years had been hard-won. The success of the diesel engine and food processing machinery was just the beginning. Subsequently, relying on their technology center, they continuously innovated, developing product series to meet the needs of different markets, expanding from single agricultural implements to multiple fields such as small construction machinery and smart kitchen appliances.

In terms of management, she withstood the pressure and gradually established and improved the modern enterprise system, promoted the pilot reform of the shareholding system, and made employees truly become the masters of the enterprise. Old Li, who was the most opposed at the beginning, has now become a supporter of the reform. The foundry branch he was in charge of has become one of the most profitable in the entire group because of the introduction of new equipment and refined management.

"Oh, right," Fu Jingchen said with a smile, remembering something, "Master Wang is officially retiring next month, and the technical school wants to hold a farewell party. Please be sure to attend."

Liu Li nodded. Master Wang Jianguo had retired from frontline work two years ago, but was rehired as honorary principal of the factory-run technical school, where he unreservedly passed on his exceptional skills and "craftsman spirit" to the young apprentices. Zhang Shulan, on the other hand, was promoted to deputy director of the quality department based on her outstanding performance in management and QC activities. As for Sun Peng, who had caused her so much trouble, he had resigned a year ago and gone south, reportedly not doing well in the special economic zone.

Former rivals and partners have all found their place in the tides of time.

After work, Liu Li didn't take the car assigned to her. Instead, she walked through the factory area as usual. Inside the workshop, the automated production line was running smoothly, and the workers, dressed in clean work clothes, were monitoring data in front of computer screens. It was a world of difference from the scene when she first entered the factory, where she was covered in oil and had to work by swinging a sledgehammer.

She walked to the old site of the machining workshop where she first worked, which has now been transformed into the group's "Factory History Exhibition Hall." At the entrance of the exhibition hall, there is the "Red Star" brand hand-cranked corn thresher that originally saved the Red Star Factory. It is somewhat clumsy but incredibly sturdy. Next to it is a set of scraping blades donated by Master Wang Jianguo. They lie quietly in the glass display case, telling the story of those difficult and struggling years.

Liu Li stood there for a long time, as if she could see herself grinding drill bits in the workshop until her fingers went numb, see all the workers in the factory gritting their teeth and raising funds during the crisis, see Fu Jingchen and his young team working through the night to tackle technical problems, and see the old factory director's earnest eyes before his death...

From a confused high school student reborn into this era to the helmsman of a modern enterprise group; from struggling for a "secure job" that wouldn't require her to go to the countryside to leading thousands of people to ride the waves of the market economy... Over the past ten years, she has been like an ordinary iron billet thrown into the furnace of the times, undergoing tempering, forging, and quenching, finally becoming steel through a hundred refinements.

She was no longer just Liu Li, the project manager from her previous life, nor merely the deputy director of the Red Star Factory. Her destiny was now inextricably linked to the land beneath her feet and to this magnificent era.

The phone rang; it was her son calling from his children's smartwatch. His innocent voice asked when she was coming home. Liu Li responded gently, a happy smile spreading across her face.

She took one last look at the vibrant factory area bathed in the setting sun, then turned and walked resolutely towards home.

Behind her lies a past forged in fire; ahead lies a future that is both more challenging and broader. The tide of the times continues to surge, and she has learned how not only to stand firm in this tide, but also to lead the way and forge new glories.

(The End)